The collected works of Raion-Fox - Page 1

So here I am trying to build Netsurf 3.1 for IRIX - and failing miserably.

I have ensured my toolchain ( MIPSPro 7.4 ) is installed and working with all front ends.

So I untar the source from the NetSurf site and give it a try:


So, I though... its one of those ganoo makefiles.


Well then. Doesn't appear to be GCC dependent thus far, but it can't detect libpng. Anyone else want to give me a hand please?

I see. Not that I cared about JS on Netsurf, I was more interested in getting an up to date HTML renderer going and remote X11 seems to work OK but is buggy

I give up. Looks harder than I initially thought. Good on someone else if they can do it.

Longshot here, but you think that eventually you can port the MPlayer fork mpv - people have been saying MPlayer is dying

I did benchmarks a while ago on a dual 300MHz MIPS Octane2 to the dual 1.2GHz ARMv7 CPU in my cellular - but of course they weren't but so relative. That phone has 512MB RAM, so I loaded 512MB in the Octane, and I forced software decoding on my phone running mplayer to the Octane running mplayer, V8 graphics hardware.

The Octane dropped only 15% more frames in pure software decoding on XviD video at 640x480 at a relatively high bitrate. My phone is a midrange generic T-Mobile smartphone. If I changed it to gl2 or sgi for the mplayer, then it would close the gap to only 9%. My 600MHz dual Octane is out of comission at the minute due to waiting on a part.

Also, hamei, mpv mostly got rid of little used features of mplayer, and it still builds on MIPS systems according to my discussions on the mailing list. I imagine Axatax would have some nasty backporting to do though to get all the nice optimisations going good.

One of these days when I'm done with my C course at college I'll look into porting xine - C applications seem to have an easier time running on IRIX.

Hate to ask, but diegel or someone else, can you roll a tardist with all dependencies installed?

What I've done in the past is used NFS for the major part of AIX box storage, and mounted all the directories that have extra programs, data etc. to NFS shares.

I have rider, my C8k up and running using PKGSRC. It is not the hottest looking example and it's missing the pedestal . But it runs reliably. I have it pretty much maxed out.

I actually recently built CDE on FreeBSD and want to start making it look more IRIXy, especially since the big Linux DEs now mandate logind and dbus. Fuck Lennart and Merry Christmas.

On FreeBSD you use port lang/gcc-aux for Ada programming - the API for gnat is broken.

The fuel will have faster graphics performance but less texture memory. The SCSI bus is faster, which improves I/O performance. CPU-wise your performance will be about the same single thread, somewhat worse multi-threaded.

Oh yeah, on browsers:

Firefox 3.0.19 is the most featureful
Dillo is faster

Ah, thanks for that dexter. I'm waiting to see if MS will give us free azure installs to use, if not, I'll use one of my hosting providers that has always been reliable for hosting the repo. Assuming all goes well I'lll end up using one of these web-view Mercurials.

Do you have an SUV? I'd recommend renting a trailer and hooking it up to a truck/SUV if you have one, if you don't, then I recommend Penske personally - not Uhaul as I've had trucks they rented to me break down - and I don't mean, oh, the A/C stopped working. I mean oh, the master cylinder line split and now I have no brakes! or Oh, the magic lamp light is on - better shut it off before I spin a bearing!

I will not be available over the next few days to discuss the project.

Silicon Classics,

Do be sure to upload all of this content you find somewhere. Likely, not here or anywhere due to the illegal nature of this, but maybe in a bittorrent or on some other site somewhere.

Aaron/SiliconClassics

I didn't know you were an attorney but it's good to know you're wanting to cover your ass - I'm disappointed but I respect your choice. I appreciate your sharing with the community and I'm sorry that some of our members have attacked you personally, I also see from your Youtube videos you got a shitload of dislikes. I'm sorry for that and I hope to get one of these boxes.


Good luck with the sale bro.

Since the highest bidder has 138 transactions and has transactional history in computers and networking, I'd suffice to say the current high bidder is a collector.

Good fucking riddance. This will free up lots of developers for other projects.

OpenSSL is kind of crap but I guess trying to graft LibreSSL onto this old UNIX is a lot like trying to add fuel injection and VVT to an old Model T on the original engine.

And sold for 2,551.99 to s***X with 138 ebay transactions. I would imagine this guy will leak the source lol.

I doubt it. Nightdive has the trademark now, so I doubt they'll sue. More likely they may appreciate the beta being released as free publicity (PERHAPS??)

Git error'd out last time I tried to use it too.

When I get reimu back up and running may as well look at mercurial too - maybe update the port. I don't do nekoware packaging though, just patch the builds and document it to allow someone else to do it.

Check with Alver, he may know where to get *cough* HP-UX

Definitely someone with C++ experience could have a chance at porting that.

I find Harbor Freight is a decent deal especially with the exchange if it breaks policy.

I don't have any Japanese tools.

There are two accounts simply created to troll and make fun of people here:

memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=14158307
memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=14158349

I suggest kicking them off

Saw this video (TenFourFox is mentioned!) I thought the analysis here was fair, considering how old these computers are.

The G5's biggest problem for me and why I've never held onto any of them is their power consumption and the noise. Even the water-cooling models make a low frequency buzz not unlike a Keurig coffee machine. They're also far slower than I'm willing to put up with. My W530 is fast enough to game and be a regular everyday system and with me_cleaner I don't have to worry about the backdoors Intel has been putting in their PCs for years.

The other issue with the G5 was OS support. FreeBSD runs okayish on it but not everything works, I've been able to use my friends Power8 server with a big endian FreeBSD VM and it was much more usable (didn't attempt X or graphics at all though) simply from a userland standpoint, less shit was broken! Either way, little endian is POWER's future. I would consider the A One X3500/X5000 if it wasnt inordinately expensive. The ARM offerings are paltry. I need a 64-bit system with decent power. I'm probably going to eventually get an Power8 ATX board that will fit in a nice ATX case I have lying around and use that as a development machine for Fox BSD and utilize its virtualization to run both Linux and BSD variant operating systems

So it has come into my own personal interest that it may be good to have a guide for people wanting to leave behind x86-based computers. This is prompted because of the Intel Management Engine and the Platform Secure Processor. There's more info on the Management Engine and the Platform Security Processor

Don't bother trying to rationalize why these have come about - they do have limited legitimate uses in the system administration realm as a partial replacement for IPMI, DRAC etc. but the more obvious use is the NSA's ability to access anyone's computer remotely. There's a partial fix in the form of me_cleaner for Intel CPUs up to Broadwell IIRC, but it doesn't fully remove the risks.

So, we'll go down by architecture and list the pros/cons of what you can do:

ARM

Options: Many. There's Chromebooks, evaluation boards like the rpi, some small integrated desktops, even there's some server solutions available.

Pros: Well supported under Linux, NetBSD, Chromium OS and Android. No known exploits on the scale of ME/PSP. Power efficient, low TDPs. Inexpensive designs available.

Cons: Proprietary architecture, low cost/performance ratio, little to no expandability, no competition with x86 for performance at the high end.

Performance rank: 6 - Low performance - not recommended if performance is a thing for you.

Itanium

Options: HP, SGI, NEC are the three biggest ones. Mostly servers.

Pros: Supported under Windows, Linux, VMS. No ME/PSP. Expandable (some servers have PCIe and can run video cards!)

Cons: Expensive, low cost/performance ratio (better than MIPS/ARM though.) outperformed by x86 and POWER, dead end architecture.

Performance rank: 3 - Moderate performance - better than many alternatives

MIPS

Options: SGI and a few evaluation boards as well as the elusive Loongson Systems.

Pros: SGIs are cool as hell (this is an SGI fan website after all!) Somewhat well supported under Linux, OpenBSD and NetBSD, IRIX is available of course. No ME/PSP shit.

Cons: High cost, low performance, almost entirely vintage hardware, IRIX has poor support for web browsers (due to JS), proprietary architecture, low cost/performance ratio, no modern expandabilty, no competition with x86 (better for SGIs compared to ARM, though!)

Performance rank: 5 - Better, but not great.

PA-RISC

Options: HP

Pros: HP-UX, Linux, NetBSD and OpenBSD support. No ME/PSP

Cons: Dead end architecture, all vintage hardware, later systems lack proper support, no expandability for modern systems. Poor cost/performance ratio.

Performance rank: 4 - Marginally better than MIPS

POWER

Options: IBM, Apple, Tyan, other OPENPOWER manufacturers. Apple stuck at G4/G5 designs - ancient. IBM sells servers, both deskside and rackmount. Tyan and other OPENPOWER sell boards/servers.

Pros: Excellent performance in POWER7 and up. Linux and FreeBSD support, AIX Bi-endian in POWER8 and 8+. Higher end machines outclass x86 by far. Modern chipsets.

Cons: Most costly options here. $1500+ for entry level. No OS X, Windows or other BSDs. Big Endian only in POWER7 means older machines will be obsoleted soon.

Performance rank: 1 - Very recommended

SPARC

Options: Sun, ORACLE, Fujitsu. Some workstations from 7-10 years ago. Modern servers available.

Pros: Solaris, Linux, BSDs all well supported. Inexpensive for okay performance. No ME/PSP.

Cons: ORACLE ruined it. Fujitsu keeps trucking on. Moderate cost/performance. Obviously lags behind x86.

Performance rank: 2 - Decent choice, if you get a recent CPU (I.E. A SPARC64 VII or later)


Conclusions

If you're super concerned, I have these recommendations:

Get an Intel machine that me_cleaner works on and either find someone who has the necessary hardware or someone who can do that for you is a good stopgap . me_cleaner does not completely remove the risk

If you have money to burn, buy a POWER8 server or motherboard that can work in a desktop case.

If you need a somewhat cheaper option, look for a Fujitsu SPARC64 VII or later - VIII at least I recommend if you want decent performance. Do be advised SPARC is generally slower than x86 for general purpose, but it isn't terrible.

Itanium is the low-end option. Don't expect miracles but they're actually decent!

ARM and MIPS are both good low end options.

PA-RISC I don't recommend unless you have a specific application you need from HP-UX.

Owned two of them - the one I sold to you that got busted up by FedEx (I still owe you for that, lmk if/when you ever need anything) and another that I re-hosed, changed the fluid and the O-rings on for a friend. They both make a sound even after bled the other one that sounds like a Keurig or other high pressure coffee maker makes when they draw water from the water tank.

commodorejohn wrote: I'm idly curious about the Fujitsu SPARC stuff - I know they've kept rolling with it, but I have no idea in what form it's available.

Quick searches on eBay for used hardware has solutions from around $300 all the way to $1600 for decently spec'd systems, and up.

They're servers, but I mean you can install Linux or BSD on them and put an AMD card in them and it should in theory work barring any endianness issues with the AMD card drivers.

Krokodil wrote: What about Alpha?

Runs Tru64, OpenBSD, NetBSD, VMS 7.x-8.4, Debian, Meditech Magic, (whatever that is).

Dead end since Compaq killed it off in the early 2000's - the BSDs have been steadily dropping it and performance-wise PA-RISC and Itanium at their highest end both kill it off.

And no, the latest Sunway system is NOT Alpha based. According to a friend of mine, at least.

Y888099 wrote: I believe the best PowerPC 32bit ever made is the PowerMac G4 MDD dual 1.4Ghz!

It comes with four PCI slots at 64bit, and processors can be upgraded with the last super-rare Sonnet dual-cpu kit.
Elegant, powerful, I believe there is no other G4 tower in these conditions around the world!

Linux works great there!

It's also limited to 31-bit addressing (2GB) has no 64-bit support, is slow as a sloth with AIDS and noisy as hell.

The G5 air cooled are even worse even though they have far better memory capabilities.

I don't get the hard on for obsolete 32-bit hardware. Even my old SPARC and MIPS computers are all 64-bit - even if the Indy can only support 256MB and the O2 can only support 1GB it doesn't matter when you have a screaming fast CPU. I'd not be surprised if a dual 600 Octane outclasses a dual G4 MDD.

I did some tests with my roommates dual CPU G5 aircooled and my Tezro (4x1GHz) before the fuckwad kicked me out, and it turns out my Tezro was more than capable of holding its own - it failed a number of times due to the G5 having a faster SATA interface, faster memory etc. but not by much - it was mostly immeasurable. Namely, I did manage to compile libevent on MIPSPro considerably faster than the G5 - which seemed hesitant to do anything at all :/

The Tyan dual sockets are in stock at a few retailers, IBM also sells a system for like $5000 thats nicely equpped.

Y888099 wrote: Nah, it's fast for my needs! gEDA doesn't need more than 700MB of ram. So 2GB is fine!

Not everyone has that level of needs. Some of us, like me, have to test databases that are fastest when completely loaded into RAM - some of the ones I've tested are 6-16GB in size - so my everyday PC has 32GB of RAM.

guardian452 wrote: You're comparing a $30,000 machine to a $3,000 machine of the same vintage.

The clock speed of an Octane at 600MHz is more than twice as slow as a 1.42GHz MDD. The MDD has DDR RAM, vs the SDR of the Octane, and the 2MX and greater graphics cards do perform on par or better than a V8/V12.

Y888099 wrote: Fortunately I don't need to develop on C++, but I happen to use those simulators, and I have recently installed 8GB of ram on my C3600 because I need 6GB of ram disk. I am using opensource-EDA and its simulators on linux-hppa and they all run 400% faster in this way.

In the theory I could buy a sATA-RAM-DISK but it's very expensive: 32GB costs 500 euro + VAT + postage.

It's the main and only reason why I have put 130 euro in 8GB of ram and also the reason why I have moved from 32bit-kernel to 64bit-kernel, but I am still with 32bit userland. No reasons to move, especially on an experimental architecture.

I bought a XEON M3 machine for my job staff. It's also perfect for commercial EDA (OrCad, Altium, etc), even OrCAD requires x86 and Windows. Unfortunately I am still with a mixed set of 32bit and 64bit applications. Some of them requires XP/32bit, so … I am obliged to have a virtualizer, and WMPlayer is perfect for my needs.

You have quite abstract needs for a computer. Overwatch on my W530 burns through 9GB of RAM. My video rendering can easily take up 12GB.

I'm limited in some ways by using a laptop as a workstation, but other than the fact that the Quadro K1000M is not super good for some modern games, I'm quite happy with it. The docking station is nice, the screen is good etc.

The way I see it, with an eventual upgrade of the CPU, I can use this computer until it falls apart.

I did use a Powerbook G4 15" 1.5GHz 2GB in 2009-2011 as my main and a G4 MDD but I sold the MDD to a buddy and the G4 got beat into dust from being dropped/broke so many times.

According to the S/N this likely has a 150MHz R4.4k. You cannot directly upgrade to an R10k although as long as you first install IRIX 6.5.22 you should have no issues upgrading to say a 250MHz unit - this is to ensure the EEPROM inside is fully up to date.

Ensure your monitor is sync-on-green compatible.

itsvince725 wrote: Mine says CMNB007Y75 so that means 150MHz R4400, correct?

I did take a look inside but I didn't really know what I was looking at (aside from obvious stuff like drive connectors and the graphics board) so I don't know whether it's been internally upgraded or not. All I could say for sure is that all the RAM slots are populated, which is certainly nice to see.

Different sizes of SIMMS though so don't hold your breath.

Correct, it likely has an R4.4k.

The SIMMS must be removed in sets of 4.

You can check and see which video card you have by checking how many boards are attached to it as well as what cards it has:

XL/Newport and Express have a 3-pin DIN

XZ and XZ-Elan have two boards

Extreme graphics have 3 boards

You can pull a SIMM if they're all the same and lookup the p/n, then multiply by the total quantity to find your total RAM.

Did you get the feet and faceplate for it?

www.ebay.com/itm/391718046084

13w3 for SGI for a good price! I'd jump on it Vince

commodorejohn wrote: Writing an SDL rotozoomer with support for per-line rotation/scale/offset parameters so I can do SNES RPG-style tilted-plane map effects without having to dig into OpenGL. Already did a proof-of-concept version in FreeBasic, but it was slow as shit because I didn't make any meaningful attempt to optimize on even the algorithmic level. Hopefully the end result here will be a hell of a lot faster.

Make sure you add at least 8 sprite layers - and add support for FM sound - some of us prefer FM sound and games from the NES and Genesis (which have fewer colours but more FM sound over the SNES, which I think the cutoff filter and the *only* wavetable generation b-o-ring